Robert S. Pepper, Phd.

Here’s another chapter from my new book: ’99 Unconventional Interventions in Group Psychotherapy’ When In Doubt—Don’t Drew struggled with weight related issues all his adult life. Approaching middle-age, he was morbidly obese but unable to stick with to a...

The intrusion of cell phones in social interactions has reached epidemic proportions in our society. Professor Marty Kaplan has labelled the phenomenon: ’WMD-Weapons of Mass Distraction’. The other night, for example, while out to dinner, we saw a family of four seated around a...

Here’s another Chapter from my new book. Let me know what you think of it. Chapter 24 : Group Can Help With That When a prospective new patient presents relationship problems at the screening interview, I say: “Group can help with that”. This statement is more than a...

While thought provoking, Jill Filipovic’s thesis about Trump’s family values, that men– ‘want their wives at home while they celebrate the professional successes of their daughters”- leaves out one person,–Tiffany. There is no word of her in...

The following is the Preface to my next book. The blog entry of July 15th called: “The Body Poet” is a sample chapter. If the concept of this book intrigues you, please let me know. Preface: 99 Unconventional Interventions in Group Psychotherapy 9...

Emotions like energy, can neither be created nor destroyed. The theory goes that if the feelings are not put into words, they are transformed either in action or physical symptoms. Here’s an example of the later. A group member, Martin, often complained of stomach aches....

THE MAN’S SECTION I’m more of an ethnic Jew than a religious one. As a ‘buffet Jew’, I pick and choose which customs and ceremonies to observe. During the High Holy Days, I like to attend Yizkor, the memorial service, for my parents and other deceased...

The other morning, as my dog, “Molly”, and I were nearing the end of our daily constitutional through Riverside Park, I heard a guy calling for his dog. “Max”! “Max”! was his plaintiff cry. I couldn’t see the owner but...

While pushing my granddaughter on a swing in her backyard, singing songs and telling each other silly jokes, seemingly from out of nowhere, she asked:” Have you ever kissed me?” What a smart girl, I thought. The truth was that I hadn’t. When she was very...

Early the other weekday morning my fiancée, Lois, opened the refrigerator and saw my wallet sitting there. As I as getting dressed for work, she approached me with a sad, scared look on her face. “Are you okay, honey?” she asked. I said:” Yeah, why are you...

During a discussion in my Sociology class at NYIT, the subject turned to the concept of the ‘glass ceiling’. I told the story of a woman I knew who had been promoted to the Board of Directors of a large corporation. As a Board Member, she was entitled to attend board...

From 1986 until his death in 2008, I was a student of the world-renowned, brilliant, charismatic, authoritarian group psychotherapist, Dr. Louis R. Ormont; but in addition to his genius, Ormont was also an ethical mess. Ormont had fluid ego boundaries; he treated and trained the...

I couldn’t believe my eyes. While riding the subway home one night, I turned to the obituary page and saw the picture of a familiar sad, half-smiling face of a young man that I once knew. At first, it didn’t click. I knew the face but for a split second...

The expression: “Hoisted on his own petard” comes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It means being injured by one’s own device that was intended to injure others. Wouldn’t it be ironic and fascinating if after all the bluster, the one person to bring...

The New York Times Letters to the Editor February 29, 2016 Rehabilitation Escaping Addiction TO THE EDITOR: Re “Rehab Rooted in Science” (Profiles in Science, Feb. 23): As a group psychotherapist for over 35 years, I take exception to the characterization of the treatment...

I had to laugh. During the 2016 Democratic Primary Campaign, Chelsea Clinton made a hilarious slip of the tongue. In comparing Bernie Sanders to her mother, instead of referring to him as Senator Sanders, she called him President Sanders. Of course, she immediately reversed...

It’s as simple and as daunting as that. On the eve of this year’s Valentine’s Day, here’s a thought about love. Staying together during the good times is easy; it seems to me that the true test of love comes when times get tough. The lengths to which...

The 20th century philosopher , Billy Joel, once said: “The King and the Queen went back to the green but you can never go back there again”. No truer words have ever been spoken. Some members of my therapy groups are stuck in the past. They long to re-creat...

Freud may have said: “Psychoanalysis is, in essence, a cure through love”, but Tina Turner said: “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”. As a psychotherapist with over thirty-five years experience, I believe love is not enough. While I agree with Dr....

Joe enjoyed being around kids, but only if they were other people’s kids. He loved the spontaneity of children, their humor, inquisitiveness and innocent wisdom but he was terrified of having children of his own. That was because he feared repeating his own childhood...